Witness: Defendant was excited after Mt. Vernon machete attack

Friday

Oct 29, 2010 at 3:15 AMOct 29, 2010 at 4:21 PM

LYNNE TUOHY,Associated Press

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A man on trial in a deadly home invasion said he attacked an 11-year-old girl with a machete because he was bored after hacking her mother to death, a friend who helped hide evidence testified Friday.

Steven Spader is on trial for murder and other felony charges in the attacks last year that killed Kimberly Cates and maimed her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, at their home in the hamlet of Mont Vernon. Prosecutors say Spader wielded the machete.

Spader's friend Autumn Savoy said in court that Spader and another man, Christopher Gribble, arrived at his home hours after the attacks, and Savoy saw the machete and a bag of clothes the two had worn in the trunk of Spader's car.

Savoy, 21, said Spader was "bouncy and jumping between conversations. He said he had just killed two people. He was very up, excited, on an adrenaline rush."

It wasn't clear until later on the day of the home invasion that Jaimie Cates had survived.

Savoy said he helped sort jewelry the pair had stolen from the house and then drove with them to the nearby Nashua River. He said he threw the bag of clothing and two jewelry boxes into the river.

Savoy said Spader told him the day before the burglary that he was planning was an initiation rite for his brotherhood, the Disciples of Destruction.

Savoy has pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and conspiracy and will be sentenced to five to 12 years in prison. He originally told police Spader and Gribble had spent the night at his house when the home invasion took place. Gribble is set to go on trial in February.

Spader is also charged with witness tampering. Another witness, Eldon Spikes, said Friday that Spader waved a knife at him the afternoon after the home invasion and threatened to kill him if he talked to police.

Spikes said he heard Spader and Gribble bragging about the attacks and how they were planning to kill again.

His testimony clashed with prior statements he gave police and the grand jury. On cross-examination, Spikes admitted he told police he had taken a near-lethal dose of prescription drugs and couldn't remember the weekend.

--------------------earlier story

Jury hears from 2nd home invasion defendant in Mt. Vernon murder

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A teenager who helped hide evidence related to a deadly New Hampshire home invasion testified he also provided an alibi for the first person to go on trial for murder in the case.

Twenty-year-old Autumn Savoy has pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and conspiracy and will be sentenced to from five to 19 years in prison.

Savoy told police Spader was at this house the night of the attacks. He said Spader told him just hours after the home invasion that he had killed two people.

Savoy said Spader told him the burglary was an initiation rite for his brotherhood, the Disciples of Destruction.

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earlier story:

Jury hears about threats to witness

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A witness in a deadly New Hampshire home invasion case says the first man to go on trial threatened to kill him if he talked to police.

Eldon Spikes said defendant Steven Spader waved an open knife at him the afternoon after the pre-dawn machete attack that killed Kimberly Cates and maimed her 11-year-old daughter in their Mont Vernon home.

Spikes said he heard Spader and co-defendant Christopher Gribble bragging about the attacks and how they were planning to kill again.

On cross examination, Spikes admitted he told police he had taken a near-lethal dose of prescription drugs and couldn't remember the weekend. His testimony clashed with prior statements he gave police and the grand jury.

Spader is on trial for murder and other charges.

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earlier story:

Witness: NH man 'euphoric' over deadly attack

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire teenager charged in a deadly home invasion testified Thursday he heard the victims' screams and pleas before two of his partners started hacking at the mother and daughter.

Eighteen-year-old Quinn Glover said the mother screamed to her daughter to run.

Glover testified against co-defendant Steven Spader, 18, who prosecutors say wielded the machete in the attacks that killed Kimberly Cates and severely wounded her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, in their Mont Vernon home one year ago.

Glover said Spader was obsessed with killing people in the weeks before the attacks.

Spader, he testified, wanted to break into homes, kill the occupants, stay overnight in the home, roast and eat the victims and stage their bodies for the media. He talked at one point about putting the heads of his victims on stakes, Glover said.

Glover previously pleaded guilty to robbery, burglary and conspiracy. He agreed to cooperate with the state in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence.

On cross-examination, Glover acknowledged he lied to police in his first two interviews. He concocted several alibis for himself, first that he was meditating in woods and later that he was watching television with his father. He said he was telling the truth Thursday.

Spader is charged with murder, attempted murder and other felonies.

As Glover testified, Spader stared at him with his fingers pressed in front of him — his standard pose during the four days of his trial.

Glover appeared in court wearing orange prison pants and shirt, his shackled ankles invisible to jurors. He punctuated most of his answers with "sir."

Glover said Spader and co-defendants Christopher Gribble and Billy Marks originally targeted the house next door to the Cates home on Trow Road, but ruled it out as too big. After they broke into the house, Glover said, the four approached the closed bedroom door with weapons out. He said Spader had a machete and Gribble had a knife. He said they were in the lead and they entered the bedroom.

Glover said he turned around, covered his ears and walked back toward the kitchen. Prosecutor Peter Hinckley asked him why.

"I walked away because I wanted to walk away from the situation," Glover said. "I didn't take anything that was said prior seriously. That was my mistake."

Afterward, Glover said, Spader was "euphoric, excited. He seemed like he had just gotten off a roller coaster." Glover said he told Spader they were making too much noise, to which Spader replied, "Two people are dead. I think we made enough noise."

Glover said he did not see the attacks, but entered the room later. He said he saw Jaimie crumpled on the floor, tangled in the curtains of a sliding glass door.

Jaimie told police she pretended to be dead, then staggered to the kitchen to call police. A doctor testified that if she had lost consciousness and not gotten help, she would have died from a punctured lung.

"On the bed, there was a woman covered in blood," Glover said. "She was moving somewhat and moaning." He said he saw Gribble put a knife to the right side of her throat. Glover said he turned away, and when he looked back, the knife was on the other side of Kimberly Cate's throat.

Glover said he lost track of Marks but Marks had no blood on his clothing after the attacks.

On the ride home, Glover said, Spader was laughing and joking.

Glover admitted on cross-examination by defense attorney Andrew Winters that he went to the house with the intent of killing the occupants, and that he was fascinated by killers such as Charles Manson.

The prosecutor asked Glover if he had attacked either victim, and he answered "no."

Glover said Spader was still euphoric 12 hours after the attacks. He said Spader and Gribble showed up in his driveway and Spader grabbed him by the shoulders.

"He ... said, 'Quinn, we broke up a family. Isn't that great?'" Glover testified. "He said it may become an addiction because he liked the high so much."

Marks, who has yet to enter a plea, has agreed to testify against Spader and Gribble, who is to go on trial in February. A fifth defendant, Autumn Savoy, pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution and conspiracy in exchange for a 5- to 19-year sentence. He also is expected to testify against Spader.

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